The mayor’s office denied the existence of a “pre-set guest list” to the Scene in April ahead of the annual State of Metro address. This week, a list of invitees surfaced in response to an expansive records request by government transparency obsessive Jason Steen.
Mayor John Cooper’s decision to hold his State of Metro address at a community center gym in Antioch appeared to be a gesture toward the city’s controversial acquisition of the Global Mall, a nearby parcel. The Metro Charter requires that the State of Metro be open to the public. But the choice of location came with limited seating, leading the office to piece together a list of roughly 200 invitees. The list includes councilmembers, mayor’s office staff and Metro department personnel. It also includes a handful of Nashville residents presumably considered VIPs by Cooper. Lobbyists and donors like Dave Cooley, Jim Schmidt, James Weaver, AJ Byrd, Kate Ezell and Sam Reed all made the cut.
Given the mayor’s office’s denial of a “pre-set invitation list,” the spreadsheet of attendees prompts questions about office transparency. The Scene had made repeated requests regarding a “formal invitation process,” any “invite list” and the “category of people who are referred to as ‘invited guests’” in an earlier press release from the mayor's office.
Steen received hundreds of emails this week responsive to a records request for any correspondence that contained “rsvp.” Steen runs ScoopNashville, a site that in large part drives clicks with mugshots and brawl videos involving minors. Steen passed on this information to the Scene.
Mayor's office representative TJ Ducklo sent along the following statement:
State of Metro is of course a public event, it is broadcast live on MNN and Metro social media channels, and is open to the public. This year, there was limited seating in the gym at Southeast Community Center in Antioch, a public facility, so invitations were sent to Council Members, Boards and Commission members, civic leaders and other government officials to reserve seating. The language on those invitations, and some of the responses folks received understandably gave the impression that it was a closed event – versus simply an effort to assign the limited seats. Many people attended who were not sent invitations, including some who happened to be at the community center, and sat in the bleachers at the back of the gym or stood along the sides. It was not our intention to exclude anyone, and if folks were turned away by mistake, we certainly apologize – that should never have happened.
